Writing quotes

Writing

30.7K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

30.7K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside writing — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Quote collection

Writing quotes (page 374 of 1537)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

Jessamyn West Author
Writing

"Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free."

Read quote 3 likes
Jessamyn West Author
Writing

"There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are, but through the jungles of self, the world, and of craft."

Read quote 3 likes
Jez Williams Musician
Writing

"We know how to work certain toys, and if you've got something in your head you know how to get in on tape, even if it's got an abstract sound to it. We are kind of producers as well as a band, so we're a self-contained unit. We can produce our own record as well as write it."

Read quote 3 likes
Jim Carrey Actor, Comedian
Writing

"It's always fun to do something that you know ultimately is not about the money, and it's certainly not for the fame - because it's a pain in the ass. But it's really the person in the theater seat you think about when you sit in a room and write."

Read quote 3 likes
Jim Dale Actor, Narrator
Writing

"I feel if some kid has sat down and felt I'm important enough to write two pages of words to and take up a lot of his valuable time, then he deserves a few words back, or even a phone call as I have done on a few occasions."

Read quote 3 likes
Jim Rohn Author, Motivational Speaker
Writing

"Human beings are the only creatures who have the ability to write down their goals and design their future. And here is why most of us don't. We're trapped either by regret of the past or the routine of the present."

Read quote 3 likes
Jimi Hendrix Musician, Guitarist
Writing

"I guess it would be if I wanted to, just lay back and predominantly write songs when I can't go on a stage anymore."

Read quote 3 likes
Jimmy Buffett Musician, Author
Writing

"[Writing] is edit, edit, edit. It's almost like getting a boat ready to go to sea. You've still got a countless number of things left to fix, but you've just got to go, "O.K., everybody get on the boat. We're going, ready or not.""

Read quote 3 likes
Joe Frank Radio Personality, Writer
Writing

"It's about being in a race with time - just having a strong sense of mortality, and the idea of, How much time do you have left? How do you want to spend it? What I always come up with is: keep on writing, keep on working. But you can become sterile. It's become a matter of trying to find inspiration someplace outside of my own head, which I've been using exclusively for too long."

Read quote 3 likes
Joe Frank Radio Personality, Writer
Writing

"When I went to the University of Iowa in order to be a writer, I thought, This is the worst way to learn how to write. To sit in a room with a bunch of would-be writers, who want to write the Great American Novel, every one of them, and you read their stories and they read yours, and you're not living a life. I don't like that. I like learning on the job. The character of my work has definitely evolved from the character of my life."

Read quote 3 likes
Joe Locke Musician
Writing

"Jonathan Kreisberg is a great musician whose playing and writing always tell a story. His formidable technique and intellect never get in the way, but only serve the agenda of the heart."

Read quote 3 likes
Joe Robert Cole Screenwriter
Writing

"Having gone through the [Marvel] writer program, I knew Black Panther was in the pipeline and I knew they were big fans of my writing. But I had to compete with the other writers who were put up for it - no one hands out jobs."

Read quote 3 likes
John Cage Composer, Musician
Writing

"What is the purpose of writing music? One is, of course, not dealing with purposes but dealing with sounds. Or the answer must take the form of a paradox: a purposeful purposeless or a purposeless play. This play, however, is an affirmation of life--not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord."

Read quote 3 likes